Friday, July 29, 2011

Photos of Last Shuttle Mission

The Big Picture has a page of photos of the recent (and final) Space Shuttle mission.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Space Walk With Logos

Astronomy Picture of the Day has a photo of an astronaut on a space walk at the end of the Canadarm.  Amusingly the only logo visible in the picture is the Canada wordmark and you can see it three times.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Comic Sans Comic

This comic is a bit hard to explain if you don't get it.  The key is that Comic Sans is a font.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Lego Robots Solve Rubik's Cube and Suduko

Singularity Hub has a post with some videos of a new super fast Lego robot that solves Rubik's cubes.  There are also videos of humans setting records solving the cubes and as a bonus there is a very cool, and very slow, Lego robot that solves Sudoku puzzles.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Stars Over Dubai

Astronomy Photo of the Day has a nice nighttime shot of Dubai.

The Great Stork Derby

I came across this quote:
In 1926, a wealthy Toronto lawyer and practical joker by the name of Charles Vance Millar died. In his last will and testament Mr. Millar bequeathed the residue of his estate to the woman in Toronto who could produce the most children in the 10-year period following his death. The race became known as The Great Stork Derby and, in 1936, there were four winning mothers who each had produced nine children. They each received $125,000, which in 2011 dollars had the same buying power as $2,032,050.
 the other day in the Globe and Mail.

I had never heard of this before but it is true according to Snopes and Wikipedia.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

How Much Do They Make in the UK?

The British Office for National Statistics has a google map showing weekly income by neighbourhood.  It starts out zoomed in on central London but you can zoom back out to see the entire country (well England and Wales anyway - I guess the Scots didn't want to talk about how much money they make).

Friday, July 15, 2011

That File is Hard to Move

Flowing Data has a post about a computer mouse that gives its user tactile feedback.  For example it makes a larger file feel harder to move (ie heavier) than a smaller one.  I think that would probably get annoying after a while but it is still an interesting idea.

Friday, July 08, 2011

Last Vietnam-era Draftee to Retire from US Army

According to Yahoo News, the last person drafted into the US Army during the Vietnam War has decided to retire.  Command Sgt. Maj. Jeff Mellinger was drafted in 1972 but decided to stay in the army.

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

An Interesting Headboard

I like the idea behind this headboard.  (Not that I particularly like headboards.)

How Far Can You Go in 15 Minutes

Mapnificent is a site that will show you have far you can travel from your house on foot or by public transit in 15 minutes.  It only works in certain cities (presumably ones where they have the transit information).

Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Comic: Who are the Superheroes?

Optipess has a webcomic about accountants and super heroes.

Monday, July 04, 2011

Slow Motion Video of a Cymbal being Struck

Kottke.org has a post with a video of a cymbal being struck.  As he says there is way more movement than I would have expected.

Sunday, July 03, 2011

Organise Cables with Bread Bag Closures

Make has an interesting way to label the cables under your desk.  Use those plastic tags that secure the plastic bags that bread comes in.  I might give this a try next time I make a sandwich.